After exploring films like Her, A Clockwork Orange, and The Stepford Wives I would like to submit the sub-genre of Psychological Sci-fi for consideration next year (yes, I'm already looking forward to next year).

This month I've revisited two films I hadn't seen in ages: The Iron Giant and Babe. I recently got a very good deal on the BD of the former, and the latter was featured on the last episodes of "The Next Picture Show" podcast. Both were surprisingly moving experiences, especially since I had previously classified them as fun but light. Perhaps it's the politically polarizing nature of today's world or the fact that you can easily go to almost any comments section and find some of the worst humanity has to offer, but both films really resonated with me, and I think they are important for our times. Their messages are very simple (basically boiling down to be nice and open-minded) and ones we need to hear now.

On the other side, I watched a recent kid's movie: Spark: A Space Story which I rented for free from Redbox. I should know better than to watch animation simply because I like the character design, and I'm so glad I didn't pay money to see it! While the other kids movies had complex characters in interesting situations, this one features flat characters in a convoluted, nonsensical plot. Thankfully, I had also rented The LEGO Batman Movie which was a treat and had a lot more heart than I thought it would. If you can get through the manic, YouTube-esque first twenty minutes, it settles into a fun, thoughtful story with a meta-pop-culture edge.

One nice thing about listening to Coast To Coast AM, is since there are always at least two guests on the show, and sometimes more, if I don't feel like listening to the entire show, there is no need to. As a matter of fact, many times, only one of the guests would count for the Challenge anyways.

SF:
Monkey Shines (looks to be OOP)
The Crazies (Blue Underground release appears to be OOP on both DVD and BR)

Although we now associate it with Horror after years of subsequent sequels/ripoffs/homages, etc., Night of the Living Dead was part of the '60s cycle of science fiction films. It's a Venus probe returning with some mysterious radiation that precipitates the resurrection of the dead, rather than anything supernatural. Even Dawn of the Dead is about the downfall of society after a catastrophic fantastic event and Day is about science's last ditch effort to adjust to the situation.

After exploring films like Her, A Clockwork Orange, and The Stepford Wives I would like to submit the sub-genre of Psychological Sci-fi for consideration next year (yes, I'm already looking forward to next year).

Sure, I'll add it to the first post.

I'll also add George Romero for the "He's Dead, Jim" section for next year. He doesn't have a ton of Sci-Fi/Fantasy directing credits, but I think he's influential enough to count for that alone, plus he does have some acting/voice credits that would count as well.

I'm also thinking of adding Chris Evans and Vin Diesel to the list. Chris Evans is on the edge, between Captain America and the Avengers, those are the majority of his films, but he does have films like Snowpiercer and Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Thoughts?

SF:
Monkey Shines (looks to be OOP)
The Crazies (Blue Underground release appears to be OOP on both DVD and BR)

Thanks Bob! I caught a Tales from the Darkside episode, and now I'm watching The Crazies on YouTube.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caligulathegod

Although we now associate it with Horror after years of subsequent sequels/ripoffs/homages, etc., Night of the Living Dead was part of the '60s cycle of science fiction films. It's a Venus probe returning with some mysterious radiation that precipitates the resurrection of the dead, rather than anything supernatural. Even Dawn of the Dead is about the downfall of society after a catastrophic fantastic event and Day is about science's last ditch effort to adjust to the situation.

I imagine about half of all horror films could qualify for this Challenge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Arrow Video is releasing a Romero set Oct 24th that includes The Crazies, Season of the Witch, and There's Always Vanilla.

I think Diesel is a more obvious choice than Evans but would have no problem with either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brainee

Does The Strain count towards the challenge? The show consistently includes a lot of scientific content in how it deals with the vampire threat. Though sci-fi isn't a listed genre at imdb.

I have not watched it, but reading the summary makes it seem like it should be sci-fi. It also mentions tentacles and nuclear war? Sounds post-apocalyptic to me. Sounds like you've watched it before? If so and it is as sci-fi as it sounds, you can count it. If it's a first time watch and it's not as sci-fi as it appears, feel free to use a wild card and then save the rest for Horror Challenge.

I have not watched it, but reading the summary makes it seem like it should be sci-fi. It also mentions tentacles and nuclear war? Sounds post-apocalyptic to me. Sounds like you've watched it before? If so and it is as sci-fi as it sounds, you can count it. If it's a first time watch and it's not as sci-fi as it appears, feel free to use a wild card and then save the rest for Horror Challenge.

Yeah, I've seen it before. While horror is the main genre, I've always thought sci-fi fits it as a secondary genre (and I'm surprised imdb doesn't list it that way).

I don't know if the last season of the series will go this way, but the last book went heavily into post-apocalyptic.

Yeah, I've seen it before. While horror is the main genre, I've always thought sci-fi fits it as a secondary genre (and I'm surprised imdb doesn't list it that way).

I don't know if the last season of the series will go this way, but the last book went heavily into post-apocalyptic.

Then count it. Sometimes IMDb.com doesn't have the correct information or the full information. I know they will change small details so they can track if another site uses their information without permission plus, a lot of it is user generated. Heck, if you have an account there, you can update the genres listed yourself!

Watched Jurassic Park: The Lost World tonight. It's definitely the least of the 4 movies, but it's not quite as bad as I remember. Jurassic Park III is always a fun watch if only for William H. Macy's mustache. May have to pop that one in too.

Thinking Jeff Goldblum might be a good addition to the list next year as well. Thoughts?

Think I'll definitely have to pare down the actor's list or at least really change it up before it gets impossibly long for next year...

One of the great things about seeing FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH the other night was that it propelled me to dig out the book from which I first learned that its original title was QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. That book, Science Fiction in the Cinema, by John Baxter, was one of the first film books I ever bought and was a seminal influence in guiding me in my exploration of the genre. It even included a chapter on Jack Arnold and the sci-fi films he made at Universal (IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, TARANTULA, INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, etc.). He took those films seriously--quite a rare critical stance at the time--and dissected their virtues with clarity and enthusiasm. I mentioned all this on another group and it was pointed out to me that Arnold had read the book and greatly appreciated it and met Baxter when he visited Hollywood and took him on a tour of Universal Pictures.